At our house we couldn’t keep a goldfish alive for a week with tender loving care, let alone long enough to become a beast.

In Denver, however, a giant goldfish might not be named Goldie but rather Killer. This 1.5-foot beast has been found in Lake Tahoe. Uh-oh. Researchers worry that folks who dump aquarium fish into ponds, lakes and more are damaging the ecosystems.

Apparently, people dumping aquarium fish in freshwater lakes all over the world is creating a problem. Aquarium fish have become a third of the world’s worst aquatic and invasive species, according to a report on Huffington Post that quotes researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno. Read the full report here.

Here at home, I’ve seen folks keep goldfish in their outdoor, man-made ponds for years, and the fish can grow quite large. So these gentle fish can be real survivors. With that big body of Lake Erie water out there, we may need to keep a close eye on Goldie — and keep our potentially invasive fish out of circulation.